Details emerge in officer-involved shooting

SANDPOINT — Details surrounding the deadly officer-involved shooting last summer are coming into sharper focus.

Jeanetta Riley was shot and killed after advancing on officers while holding a knife outside Bonner General Health on July 8. Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh concluded on Oct. 31 that the officers’ use of lethal force was justified.

McHugh’s determination clears officers Michael Valenzuela and Skylar Ziegler of criminal wrongdoing in connection with the shooting.

Some of McHugh’s findings are based partially on video footage captured by a patrol vehicle’s camera. The footage is the subject of a public records request filed by The Daily Bee.

Officers were summoned to the hospital after receiving a report that there was a woman in a van outside the hospital who was armed with a knife and threatening to kill people, McHugh said in a letter outlining his findings.

McHugh’s wrote that Ziegler arrived on scene and had his patrol weapon at the ready because it was not immediately clear where Riley was.

Riley was located in the passenger seat of a Chevrolet Astro van, but it appeared that she was unarmed, which prompted Ziegler to holster the weapon and pull out his Taser, McHugh’s letter said.

Riley, a 35-year-old Priest River-area resident, got out of the van and started yelling at Ziegler. Valenzuela and Officer Garrett Johnson arrived on the scene in a separate patrol vehicle.

Johnson had his pistol drawn and Valenzuela was armed with a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle.

Ziegler, McHugh said, repeatedly and loudly instructed Riley to show her hands. Riley began waving her arms while yelling at the officers. Ziegler then saw the knife and ordered her to drop it.

“Seeing that she did not drop the knife, and with Ms. Riley turning toward the street between two vehicles and walking quickly towards him, Officer Ziegler put away his Tazer (sic) gun away and pulled out his pistol,” McHugh said.

Valenzuela and Johnson then began ordering Riley to drop the weapon.

Riley cursed at the officers and said, “bring it on” as she walked toward Ziegler and Valenzuela, McHugh said in the letter.

Valenzuela and Ziegler opened fire. Five shots were fired, three of which struck Riley.

Ziegler later described the look in Riley’s eyes as one he had only experienced a couple of times with other individuals who were intent on doing harm. Riley was approximately 12-15 feet from Ziegler and about 10 feet from Valenzuela when they opened fire.

“Officers Valenzuela and Ziegler both believed Ms. Riley would have tried to take the life of one or both of them if they had not taken action,” McHugh wrote.

McHugh concluded that other options available to the officers would not have provided them the same degree of safety.

“Therefore, I conclude that the officers used justifiable force in this sadly tragic incident that resulted in Ms. Riley’s death,” McHugh wrote.

Riley’s former husband and the father of one of her children, Dana Maddox, contends the use of force was unnecessary and excessive and is seeking $1 million damages from the city on behalf of his daughter.

If the city rejects the claim for damages, Maddox would be free to pursue damages through a civil action filed in 1st District Court.